Touchline attack

Keep the attacking play moving towards and up close to one touchline opens up the field. The Lions, Wales and South Africa have all used this tactic recently before releasing the ball back the other way. This session looks at working the ball up the touchline, avoiding going into touch and retaining possession.

Warm up time: 5-7
Session time: 8-10
Development time: 10-15
Game time: 15-20
Warm down time: 5-7

What to think about

The player closest to the touchline must work hard to avoid being tackled into touch. He can either pass or step inside. However, the further infield his pass, the more defenders there will be. Support players need to keep deeper because the defenders are more likely to be in the passing channels. The ball carrier can experiment with overhead passes or ones behind the back. Your team can use this practice to try out these options, but should aim to maintain possession in the game with less risky passes.

set-up

1. Attack forwards and step away from the touchline.
2. Keep passes short and hard.

What you get your players to do

Put three attackers with a ball at one end of the box. Put one ruck pad holder 5m away on the central line and another two 10m away. The attack aims to get to the end of the channel without losing the ball or going out of the channel. Have the attacker on the central line pass to the player nearest the touchline. Once the pass is made, the first ruck pad player moves forward. He tries to knock the ball or ball carrier into touch. If the attack gets past the first ruck pad holder, the two ruck pad holders move forward with the same aim.